Mao Xiaobing Former Communist Party Chief of Qinghai Sentenced to Life for Cor ruption

China is investigating a senior official in western Qinghai province for graft， the ruling Communist Partys corruption watchdog said， making him the latest target in a crackdown on corruption.

Mao Xiaobing - the party secretary of Xining， the capital of Qinghai - is “suspected of serious discipline violations” and is being investigated， the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection （CCDI） said in a one-line statement on its website.

It gave no further details but in China the term discipline violations is generally used to denote corruption.

President Xi Jinping has said endemic cor- ruption threatens the partys very survival and has vowed to go after high-flying “tigers” as well as lowly “flies”.

Mao is the eighth provincial or ministry-level official investigated so far this year， the Global Times， a popular tabloid owned by the partys official newspaper Peoples Daily.

Corruption by government officials stokes public discontent， but critics say it will be impossible to truly weed out graft until high-ranking officials are forced to disclose their wealth.

Previously， Chinas top anti-corruption body said it was investigating the chairman of state-run conglomerate China Resources Holding Co. Ltd.， Song Lin， for a “serious violation of discipline”.endprint